The Sun. — London, England, 1810-03-13 00:00:00

and desperate at some of the most considerable sts tops,- as well a.; at some subordinate posts of the A• my. These measures had been undertaken in connexion with a - Auilty• combination and concert,. the .e;ct:.-nt of, which - I cannot contemplate without the deepeit concern. I hate cherished as long as events would jet allow me to - do so, that cordial esteem for the army of the coastat large, which 3 long and uniform display of et ery frlititary virtue had, till this calamitous season, so well justified, and which had led me, perhaps too perlinacinusly, to ascribe the prevailing disorders rather-to a partial than to a general defeEtion from duty. This habitual regard for the army of Fort St. deerge, has much embittered the necessity of re nouncing even for an interval, and I 'trust I - may pow- say a short one, sentiments which were once so just, and are still so grateful to my mind. t is matter of satiscapAior(to reflect, that I have yielded these favourable impressions to the evidence of faCts alone, and that it has required those scenes which have been ajted in open day,• without affeet , Ile. even the decency of concealment, to 'extort ,from we the relu6lant -acknowledgement of a too general participation in the late criminal confede racy, which, while it casts a wider shade over the tormer reputation of this army,• has also given to their proteedings a more serious and awful charac ter, since the blow which the contest alone, but which success, even without contest, would yet more certainly have struck into the bosom of their country, must have been proportionally the deeper and more incurable. Tile anxiety and grief which would have attended the . necessity of such a contest as this,state of things appeared likely to require,, has however been spared me, by the return of the Officers to their duty, a final renunciation of the criminal design's which had diretied their late condu6l, and an unqualified sub mission to legal authority before my- arrival at Madras. The leading and principal fa6ls had been placed so entirely heyond.doubt or question, by the bold, undisguised chara&er of the revolt ; and the general principles of the deliberation on which I was enter ing, ,are so plain and manifest in themselves, that a resohr iot might perhaps have been safely taken w ith lit, le rt.fle,Aion or delay: have not negle&ed to look back once more to the origin of these troubles, and I am constrained to rereat'llii sentiments I, have already delivered , •on •that branch of the subjetit.- r -Nothing can justify the -revolt of an army ; but I have been disappointed in my search • even for circumstances of mitigation in this revolt. No injury has, in my apprehension, been done to , the army, in any stage of a confliti which began in a fa6tious attack on Government. But if, in the necess•iry vindication of authority, any point may have arisen whiCh might be thought interesting to the military body at large, the regulPt and legitimate recourse to the ultimate authorities wos uc,l only open, .out was . actually in progress. Seditious combination, therefore, can find no apo ' logy ire the case, neither can punishments . inflic: - ed -on individual acts of sedition, furnish a just provo cation to general confederacy. The cominission crimes draws after it the penalties attached to them, and ih this prucesi it is Government which is driven to repeat punishments and multiply restraints by the growth and repeti 7 tion of offences—it does not lie in the Offenders mouths to say, that they have been driven into the commission of crimes by the tepetitton of punish- Mews. Such however appears to' have been the-false and inverted principle by which this contagion has ; Spier Ow a parttal beim) to a general revolt. The later excessei of revolted Officers ap- Fear to have sought a justification, and perhaps to found support, from -an errol - extremely si milar. e n cessaiy, b cause the only effectual means ;;ence which G crntnent could employ against the siolence with which it was threatened, have been converted into arguments of greater violence; have been treated as crimes; and as new provocations to t het very rebellion, by which thesepeasures were th-anselVeS retidered indispensable. On the other hand, 1 have examined with more than inapr i liality, that is to say, with an earnest de sire to establish the most favourable conclusions for the 011icers of th's army, all the circumstances which attended and might be supposed to have in- Otent.ed the sudden return of the army to its duty. I am little inclined to pronounce an adverse - and ungracious judgment, on that interesting point. will net, however; either on this or any other occa sion, sacrifice truth to the indulgence of my per son d disposition and wishes, 'and I have to regret tliat eeither the particular circumstances of the mo ment, nor the specific information which has fatten tirder my observation, can warrant as clearly as I sish the opinion I am desirous of entertaining, that the submission of the army to legal authority may be exclusively ascribed to a returning sense of duty; and the were operation of public principle—l am at the same time unwilling to probe that question more deeply than the occasion requires, and I am entire lv disposed, amongst the complicated moti%es of an action good iu itself, to discern at: least the co-ope ration of worthy and honourable inducement. The latter seutunent' has not been excluded from the considerations on which judgment has been formed, and has been allowed a most welcome and Acceptable influence on the final measures that have been adopted. It is nut my intention to enlarge onthe grounds of the opipions I have now delivered, and I have touch ed upon them only for the purpose of explaining one of the principal foundations of 'my decision—The acts being in themselves highly criminal, I have dis covered neither in the motives that led to them, nor in the immediate inducements to submiSsion, suffi cient -palliation to entitle offences- . so dangerous to Our country and the world to simple impunity and pardon. .-Clear and incapable of doubt as this pro position, is, I have not yielded ,my implicit and nnal assent to it without 3 repeated review of every consideration' that could oppose that conclusion, nor without many struggles of private sensibility and feeling against the lamented consequences which must practically rest* from it. But these are que. , , l.ions not of private sensibility but of public (rust. Imo jn ciloge the: discipline of future armies- s , u.nawN : Prpted by 1(.1 (jilt thc STN-o F FicE, N • the maintenance of that fixed and immutable prin ciple, that military bodies are subordinate to the " State ; - in a word, the fundamental securities of hu— man associatiorh I cannot exclude from my mind the intimate con viaion that the total impunity of revolt, under all the circumstances of the present eyents, is not ,com patible with those securities; that the silence of the . Law, in the case of arms turned against the Go vernment that gave them, of fortresses seized by those who were stationed to protea then), of troops seduced by the officers, to whose better guardian , sltip they were committed) could be ascribed to no motive; and produce on the minds of those who should witness it, even from a • distance, no itx•pres , sion favourable to obedience and discipline. Upon what distin&ion shall we rely hereafter in the pu , nishirmtit of inferior offenders, and alts of minor insubordination, when impunity is the established result of mutiny, in which the Officers of a whole army were the actors, and of which their superiors and commanders have been the_prineipal promoters and l-eaders? This painful argument is extorted from me, not for the purpose of reproach, but to fortify my unwilling judgment in the affliaing but inevitable conclusion, that total impunity is forbidden by every obligation of my high trust. There is yet, I hope, a mitigating principle in the most austere exercise of English justice ; that justice, which, while it obeys ,the call of public safety, is ever accessible to the interceding voice of elethenty and mercy. , A lenient and even a tender adinintstra4 tion of justice is at once , the boast and privilege of our glorious and happy country. From its sterner duties I must not entirely shrink, but if I am prompted,- by the best propensities of every human bosom, to infuse into the cotrection of subdued offences the largest measure compatible, with the ends of justice, I shall be but a faithful representative of our cotnmon Sovereign, and shall but illustrate and exemplify the national character , of his people. To this truly English virtue I shall j appeal, it any one should think that, either in the gratification of personal feelings, or in emulation of the chara&eristic lenity of England, I may have given too wide a scope to indulgence, and have done too little for public discipline. In pursuance of these views, the principle rhave thought-myself at liberty to adopt has been to limit the number, of punishments, since impunity cannot be general ;` and to mitigate their degrees to the - ut• most extent of lenity, not entirely incompatible with the public good, and the indispensable demands of justice. • - LIST OF OFFICERS TO BE TRIED., To be tried by Court. Martial. Lieut.-Colonel lohn Bell, Ist .Battalion Artillery, senior Officer commanding at Seringaptain. Lieut.-Colonel lohn Doveton, Bth Regiment of Cavalry, commanding a Detachm,nt of the Hyderabad Subsidiary Force at laulna. Major Joseph Storey, rst Batt. 19th 'Regt. N. I. senior Officer commanding at Masulipatam. • Tube tried by Court-Martial, or dismissed the Service, at their option. Lieut *Colonel Robert Munro,' 2LI Batt. isth Regt. Se ringapatam. 111.ijor D. C. Kenny, zd Batt. Igthßegt. Seringapatam. Captain I% F. De Haviland, Engineers, Seringapatam. Captain George Cadell, izth Regt. N: 1. and ToWn-Ma jor, Seringapatam. • Captain Hugh Mil ntosh. tst Batt. Bth - Regt.. and Captain t F. K. Aiskill, rst Batt. isth Rey. marched without orders for Chittledroog to Seringapatam. Captain A. Andrews, Madras European Regt. Masulipa tam. Captain 1., Patterson, :st Batt. tith Regt. Saniulcottalt. Captain George Walla!), Ist Batt. zist. Regt. Chicacole. Captain lames Sadler, tat Batt. 24th Regt, hllore. Captain 1. L. Lushington, 4tlt,Regt. Cavalry, Janina. Capt. A. Wl' Leo], Suit Re4iotent Cavalry, 'anima, Capt.-Lieutenant C. Hopkinson, tat Batt. Artillery, senior Officer of Artillery at, laulna. Capt.-Lieutenant G. W. I'oignanil, Horse Artillery, se nior 011ker of the Corps at I aulna. Capt. G. M. Gibson, ast Batt. math Regiment, Jaulua. Capt. Thomas Pollock, rat Batt. lath Regiment jaulna. Major Mathew Stewart, ad Batt. z7th Regiment, Janina. Capt. John Turner, ad Batt. itch Regt. Seringapatam. Reduced as the numbers contained in this melan choly list have been, by every consideration, to which a sense of inviolable duly has permitted me to listen, it has not been without the most afflicting agitation my mind-has ever experienced, that I have affixed me,• final signature to the order as it now stands. It is with carresponding satisfadion and joy, I have now to perform the more grateful office of announcing to' every other officer, who has been int olved in any of the criminal proceedings of the army, since the Ist of, May, a general and . un qualified amnesty ; to the benefit of which those office: s„ who haie hitherto declined the teat, will be admitted on their signing that declaration. This amnesty is not granted - in the narrow spirit .1 of mere pardon. It is tendered as an,ad of total and sincere oblivion; it offers on the part of Go vernment a full restoration .of confidence and 'es teem ; and it invites, from those who are the ob jea of it, not a sullen discharge 4 constrained duty, but obedience which comes front the heart, and the Cheerful, animated service of cordiality, affection, and zeal. My sentiments concerning the late events. have been too clearly pronounced to adinit of an amnesty thus general, being sn far misinterpreted as to bring in question the deep sense I continue to entertain both of the guilt and the danger of those anions to which this indemnity is granted. It is not on a principle of justification, but of pure indulgence, unmixed with any other consideration, that I have acted on this occasion. I have recolleded the' proneness of our common nature to error; the dominion of the pas sions over reason, the influence otrank, authority, and talents, pver young and feeble minds ;‘ the power of contagion, and the irresistibt.e torrent . of general example. I have considered the small and scarcely percepti ble degrees by which innocent men are conducted, from tile first slight transgression, to Crimps, the enormity of which the,r minds would have revolted ar, if presented at once to their view. To .resist these seductions is the part of sound judgment and manly charatter, Such - efforts are most honourable to the distinguished few who are gifted with the union of these qualities, but they are, I fear, too rave to. be 'required Of all. • To such considerations the extent of the present' clemency must be referred. When the officers included in this act of grace re fl,-.Ct on the, happy change it has operated on that condition, I am. sure the first sentiments of their breasts will be those of devout and fervent gratitude. It is my wish to point these acknowledgments to their proper objects. Next, for the'recovery of life, honour, their own esteem, the confidence of Government, the regard of their countrymen, 'and I trust .a firm security for the perpetual duration of these blessings, their gate ful benedittions are due to the benevolent genius of their country, of which I am only the organ. My final and best advice is to reject the first step that leads from the beaten track of prolessional,de meanour, as it the ,worst extreme of ripened and atrocious guilt were proposed alone to their accept ,ance. The widest stride of all is from innocence to guilt. That boundary once pahst• 1, the tr,; ( l,a_ lion of crime are shorter and less sensiole. Ho whr withholds his voice from earl) clamour, and his pen from the first iriegular signature, is sale and blameless ; 'bey - um! that, clearly defined line, all is peipltxiiy and danger. With those friend lfsuggestions prompted by a pure solicitude tor the honour and welfare of those whom I adcires, I take leave even of admonition, and of every o her form of address which can imply reproof, and purge my - mind of every painful recollec tion, embrace the happiest prosped which is now presented to my view by the - final termination of . public discord, violence, and trouble, and tha re-establishment on. a firm, and I trust secureliasis, of tranquility and order. In the execution of this principle, it has been ne cessary to make a.small selection from a great mass 'of delinquency, all subject in strictness to' the pe nalties of the law; and that such a choice should peither be capricious nor subject to the suspicion of partiality, I have adopted general criterions, the prin ciples of which'are manifestly just, and the appli cation of which to particular cases is subject to no di ficulty. The first ground of seleaion is the commission of some overt act of rebellion or mutiny, - such as seiz ing on fortresse , i or public treasre ; aClual hostility 21,qtinst the tro , ps of his Majesty, the Company, or its allies; quitting the station allotted to ti ops with out ord. - ers, or the refusal to obey the orders Of Go venment. . This.principle of selection wevid - liberate a con siderable proportion of the ,army ; but it would in volve a much greater number than it enters' into my views to exclude limn pardon. It is necessary therefore to sele& from the nu merous diss 'already described a small number, com prised within a narrower head of distinction_. 'That selection is 10 consist of the officers in com mand of stations; orbodies of troops, Commandants of corps, and persons peculiarly distinguished for a forward and violent part in the most criminal acts ur proceedings of the army. The whole of this highly crrminat and peculiarly responsible, but not numerous class, will most justly be submitted to a trial by Court Martial. But as the Courts - Martial may of necessity be bound '6 pass sentences of gi:eater severity than it is in contemplation - to extend 'without distin6tion to the whole number of those submitted to trial, a More minute subdivi s ion will y e t be made„and the Offi cers in command of garrisons or considerable bodies of troops will be separated, ,on the ground of higher responsibility, from the Commandants of corps. The former will be subjealed at all events to trial ; the latter will be allowed the option of a trill, or dis missal from the service. In order that no anxious uncertainty may remain concerning the application of these rules of selection to individual cases, the names of all the officers in tended for punishment are expressed . in the follow ing list. It will be found not to include the Com mandants of Corps at Secunderabad, although that force fell too distinally within the priociple of selec tion, not only on account of the lead it assumedin the criminal-combination and violent proceedings of the army, but as having committed open mutiny in re fusing to permit the march of the '2 d battalion tOtli regiment to Goa. I have, however, thought the example, wtich that force was the first to sit to the revolted Officers, of an early return to their duty, and the influence of that example upon other parts of the army, maybe admitted as a ground Of special indulgence and pardon. I have omitted looking too narrowly into the va riety of possib'e motives that mciy be supposed . to have actuated the senior Officers of this force in their exertions to withdraw it from further resistance to GovernMent. In my desire to restore my first esteem to the Officers of this army, the better and more honourable inducements may be al lowed at least their share in this commenda ble part of their conduct ; and, in my solicitude to extend the principle of clemency to its ut must allowable bounds, I have deemed the benefit derived both to the pubiic and to the army itself, from the submission of the Hyderabad force stiff ciently important to warrant, even without regard to motives or inducements, the extension of indulgence to that body. It will be a signal testimony that . G overnment is not Unmindful of the services which are MINT°. rendered to it, and that while it is impelled,, only by necessity, to the exercise of its sever er functions, it seize; with satisfaction every opportunity to for give and reward. By Order of Major-Gen. Gowdie. Commanding the Army. •MAI LS. ARM IV ED-2 Dublin. Du e-.S Gottenburgb, i Waterford. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS nAy AT TWILVL O'CLOCK. Consols - - 67ia 6 U N. 3OLEM Q1..11S DICiRE FAI.SUM AUDEAT ? L 0 iV 1) 0 iv, TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1810. Last night some French Papers to the fit(, inst. arriVed. The intelligence they contain is not -of much importance. The preparations fUr BUONA PARTE'S marriage are going on with greataaivity ; and in order to add to the splendour of the scene, thts. - Kings Of WIR.TEMBERG. and BAVARIA have been ordered to accompany the ARCHDUCHESS on her °:4 1 n• r ey to Paris, and to assist at . the Fetes. EUGENE RD HART oz No, 4, Martlett-court, Bow-street; and Pc.blistied by WILLIAM AstmluEti. SCI JIPS, Souti 4 Molton.weet, LroFvenor ware. o. 11v, Strand; wtiere 4dvertisements, Orders for thq Paper, Le‘ter.t fgi the EaiNr, (pot-pai4), 41.'ist ba itt.l4l-411;.‘4 BEAVIIARNOIS, who is likely to be materially af fected by the Marriage of BUONAPATITE, has been nominated by him, by way of compens - stion, suc cessor to the Prince Primate,in the Grand Duthy of Frankfort. We yesterday stated the arrival of the Rattlesnake sloop of war with dispatches from Fort St. George. She left Madras on the 22d ofPaober. It is with much pleasure we confirm -our previous account of the entire restoration :of obedience in our array' Our Readers wilt find in another parr of our Paper • a very interesting and, important document on this subjeet from Lord Mtirro, respeaing this unfortu-, nate transaaion and its result. This interesting do cument is. followed by the General Orders of the Right Honourable the GovernorrGeneral, in which :•; be remits the sentence (cashiered) of Lieutenants M'CoasticK and ROWLEY, from a stria regard to the Amnesty which he had previously issued,. upon condition that they make an ample and distinct apo logy to their Commanding Officer Capt. CAMPBELL, concluding with a strong recommendation of entire cordiality, and holding forth the certainty of punish. : ment in case of any similar breach of military - duty• We also stated yesterday, that a. hostile disposi. tion - bad shewn itself among the Native Powers, by the sudden appearance of 40;000 Mahratta. troops in the British territories, with the view, as is supposed, .; of taking advantage of the unhappy dissensions in our army. These Mahratta troops, it appears; were under the command of HUMMER UD DERN Cnwrr , . and their irruption was deemed of a predatory na.' ture. A strong Briltish force had been direaed to advance against them, and -there was no doubt of the .most decisive result in support of- our au.:. thority.„, All the accounts received from Cadiz concur i stating, that the inhabitants are unanimous in their determination of defending that place to the utmost extremity, and that there is every reason to hope that they will he able successfully to resist any force that the French can bring against it. The natural and artificial means of defence of the Isle of Leon and Cadiz, are so strong, that unless the inhabi tants should be reduced by famine, or betrayed by treachery, the enemy can have but little chance of success. We are happy, however, to bear, that the place is now abundantly supplied with provisions. The twoßritish Frigates that have arrived at Cadiz, from South America have brought over , 6;900,00c! dollars. An Austrian Messenger arrived ye&terday from Heligoland. His arrival has caused considerable speculation, but it is probable that be was only the. bearer of the official Intelligence respecting ihe mar riage between BUOt4A.PARTE and the Archduchess MARIA LOUISA. The Morning Chroniae has this day contradicted, from authOrity, a paragraph which it says appeared • in the Ministerial Papers of yesterday, respecting the mistake stated to nave been made in ; counting the numbers in the division on Friday in the House of Commons. The Morning Chronicle alsd asserts that .this was a manceuvre of Ministers to make-the ,public believe that they 'have still a majority in the , Hou4e of Commons. Accustomed as we are to . 'read daily th e unfounded cha rges o f the Opposition ` ..Writers, we hardly recollect one in Which truth hag been so completely set atdefiance as in the instance to which we are now alluding. Will it be believed, that this•paragraph, winch the Morning, Chronicle, says was a Ministerial trick, and appeared in th 3, Ministerial t'apers• of yesterday, atlud;ly kippeared first in a Sunday Paper that is in general hostite to Ministers ; that it was copied by two or three pa;. pens of yesterday, but • not exclusively by - Mi nisterial Papers, unless the Morning Chronicle means to assert that the Times is a' Mini-. sterial Paper ; and to complete the whole, that that paragraph, that I\kinisteri,i ma ceatre, was for- Mally'c , ntrL:dicled in one at . least o r t h e mi n i ster ial Papers of yesterday ? The paragrapii originally was a silly attempt to raise a joke against Mr. Cnowt ; that object having - failed, it was thought perhap ari - ingenious - and a bold 'device to Charge the whole upon the Ministers, under the hope that among 3 crowd of accusations equally fal.'se, it might escape undetected. But the Writer of the article to the' Morning Chronicle seems deferm.!:, , d that his charge shall at least be as absurd us it is ; for he says that the object for which vented this story was, to make the public, believe that they had a 'MAJORITY. Now if any one will take the trouble of consulting the columns of the Morning Chronicle of Saturday last, he will find it accurately stated that Ministers had a Majority . of (32 ; and yet the same paper, two days - afterwards, accuses Ministers of having invented this story about the m i stake in counting the Houie, in order to make the public believe that they had a Majority ! This morning advice was received at the East•ln dia-Ijouse of he safe arrival, at Porrtsmokab, of the country ship Fort !Pi /ham, !Aden %% it() cot ton. The extra ships General Stuart and Uni;on, and the country .ships Ifarren Hastings, Bojine, and Providence, arr 4 ed at the Cape on th e 24 t h an d 23t h . . of December. - HOFFER, the brave, die 'patriotic HOFFER, has been shot, in virtue of, the sentence of a Military Commission, at Mantua. Another soul has thus been , ent tc. plead at the bar of [ - leaven agoinst that wholesale assassin, who, at the oers' moment he 1 5 pretending to be all love and gentleness at the ides ut being united to a Princess (if the House of Aus; trig, degrades and insulis tier father by the murder of one ut his most faithful subjects. , to , c a Al 4. \%.1 I . - J, J . s 111 ' `<ilii t J C•